Try to make me go to rehab...

But I said no, no, no...

I FINALLY know what Amy Winehouse was singing about...err, wait a second...my rehab isn't for substance abuse--whew! For the last 6-7 weeks I've been visiting my favorite lo-cal for physical activity AND physical therapy--none other than Maximum Performance. I already was a frequent visitor of XP, as it's known to the locals, for my 5:45AM cycling class on Tuesday and Friday mornings, but for awhile now I've added something else. Let me back track a bit...end of September-ish 2009 I'm at the peak of intensity for marathon training and logging upwards of 30+ miles a week. That doesn't sound like that much, but for the novice runner it's A LOT! I started to get pain on the outside of my knee that was really limited my knee-swing mobility while running. It was pretty intense while running and just hurt all the way up the outside of my leg post-run. I was concerned, but figured it was like other aches and pains, something that must be pushed through. Well, IT-band pain is described below:

The iliotibial (IT) band is a tough group of fibers that run along the outside of the thigh. The gluteal muscles and the tensor fascia lata muscle attach to the top, and the lower part attaches to the tibia, just below the knee. It functions primarily as a stabilizer during running and can become irritated from overuse. Runners will usually describe pain on the outside part of the knee or lower thigh, often worsened by going up or down stairs, or getting out of a car.

Allow me to refer to my diagram above: the circle was the site of immediate pain--felt mostly RIGHT after my 18 mile long run one Saturday morning. That run was awesome, no pain, steady pace, great ride a-long friend, (read: Beth!) in a word: perfect! After that run during my mile-logging of Monday-Friday the pain on the outside of my knee was killing me. I tried to change my foot-strike, pick up my pace, run on gravel, nothing helped. It intensified and was almost unbearable during my following week 20 mile run. Being the novice that I was, I didn't know any better and pushed through. In my mind I needed to run the 20 miler to feel confident that I could even finish the 26.2 miles come race day. Well, it was brutal and thanks a N. Parker we pushed through that, got done, and was quite wobbly-hobbly for the rest of the day. I was confined to the couch and just rested for the majority of the day. So, tapering helped but my pain was intensifying. Fast forward: race weekend, Chicago October 9-11, 2009. Intense pain, muscle joint, weariness, not feeling great at all! Trying to stay positive, because after all, I was in Chicago and by golly I WILL finish this dang-thing!
Race day: BRUTAL. COLD. PAINFUL. FINISHED!
Post race: time-off until Nov. 1, 2009. Began running again, low mileage to maintain fitness. Started to train again for a 1/2 marathon in April. Began to feel sharp hip pain after the runs. It was at times hard to stand up straight, hard to bend to the side. Really intense.
Decision: Time to get physical therapy...or at least investigate what that would look like.
Spring Break: try out a free session at XP and see what's up and what I need to do.

Turns out, this guy in the middle: MEB, aka: elite runner, Olympic Silver Medal winner in Athens, yeah, we have the same injury! Issues/weakness in our tensor fascia lata, which lies in the front/side of my right hip.
You see the connection between the IT-band and TFL...really closely connected and in my case: weak! The area is about the size of the adult thumb on me and it's just small enough, but when overworked can cause such pain. It was clear to see how weak this area of my hip was, I could barely hold my right leg up in the air when hardly pushed on.
When I started rehab I was feeling emotionally and physically defeated. I thought my running days were over and that I royally jacked myself up my running that Marathon until completion! Therapy has been hard because it's a slow road back when the TFL can get inflamed and overworked (by me) really easily. At times it feels touch and go, and I'm learning as I go.

Through physical therapy I've learned how important lateral movements are while training and total body strengthening is vital! I've learned some new movements, improved my balance and gotten to know the people that perform soft tissue, ice and ultra-sound on my very personal hip area twice a week! Insecurity has been checked at the door and I've had to put all my body-issues aside and really focus on strengthening my TFL and upper gluteal muscles in front of watching/supporting eyes! I know it's silly, and I'm no pro-by ANY means, but I really feel supported by this team of 3-4 people at Maximum Performance that are trying to get me back on the road, carefully, slowly and injury/pain free! I thought my running days were over--but I think its possible to come back better, and smarter...it just takes time and patience and vision for the future.
The greatest challenge of PT has been patience and grace for my body. I really want to push myself at times and just GET BETTER! but, it's not that easy. I've seen myself gain a few pounds because of a lack of calorie-burn from those miles every week and ya know what: that's just a part of it. I think that in my current place in life right now I don't have the mental capacity to abuse myself for gaining weight. Because that's really what happens inside of me. So, gained a few. I'm leaving it at that. There has also been those times where just LIFE interferes with my rehab. I don't have the time to get in, or I make the time to get in to XP and other things suffer: late for work! insufficient planning time, or just a general sense of the LONGEST days ever and scrabbling until around noon-ish... I had this realization as to why there are so many elderly people in physical therapy, because it's finally when they are old(er) and retired that they have TIME to get rehab work done! Ok, I know I'm exaggerating, but kinda feels like that sometimes...

I realized that this is a really long post now (if you're still with me: you rock!), so it's time to wrap up. I ran .5 mile twice last week with little pain, not none, but better! It wasn't easy to get back on the road, but it's a start. Tomorrow I'm going to try 1 mile and see how I feel after.

If you find yourself in the rehabilitation wheel--just keep spinning along, because every run (exercise/weight lifted/balance found/sit-up/push-up, the list goes on..) is a victory!

:)

-Love, Shelb